The Week in Review

The Roots concert Monday at Lafayette College had the feel of a private jam session. The Philadelphia group, transitioning effortlessly from genre to genre -- techno, disco, jazz, the blues, neo-soul, rap and a combination of styles -- was very much at home onstage.

The band spent a lot of time on songs from their newest and seventh album, "The Tipping Point." The CD was panned by music critics, but the songs sounded fresh and passionate live -- where The Roots are strongest. Early on, the group performed the soulful "Star," which mixes Sly and the Family Stone's "Everybody Is a Star" and "I Don't Care." Later came "The Seed," "Break You Off," "Rock You" and "You Got Me."

The crowd of mostly college students perked up when the band performed a short set of covers. Even that was an eclectic mix, from Blue Oyster's Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper" -- complete with a nod to "Saturday Night Live's" infamous cowbell skit-- to Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True" and Talib Kweli's "Get By."

In itself, the riveting presence of the musicians, who handle their instruments with effortless flair, was the highlight of the show. "Captain" Kirk Douglas' several-minutes-long guitar solo was amazing in its speed and sound, and Frank Knuckles joining Ahmir "?uestlove" on his drum was harmony at its best.

MC Black Thought's lyrics have been panned as dull and uninspired. Unfortunately, he didn't beat the rap Monday, when his vocals were so muffled it was difficult to make out much of what he was saying.

Arlene Martinez

GAVIN DeGRAW

Gavin DeGraw is the type of all-American singer whose good ol' boy looks and stage theatrics inspire a mostly female audience to toss their underwear to the stage. He jumps on speakers and gives the double devil horns to a cheering crowd, then walks into the audience and lets the girls lift his shirt to touch his stomach. His music has been incarnated thousands of times by bands that differ only in name, yet he can draw a crowd of 2,200 to Allentown on a Sunday night for two reasons: He's hot, and he's entertaining.

DeGraw's concert Sunday was giddy, energetic, full-on Stadium Rock, at times recalling the Black Crowes or Bon Jovi, at times a redneck Billy Joel. His songs alternated between overproduced roots rock, classic rock jams and sensitive piano ballads. Though DeGraw's sound is mainstream, his band members seemed to be puzzling impersonators of underground musicians: The drummer looked like Tom Waits, the guitarist Jack White and the bassist, Beck. When, at one point, they all rushed up to DeGraw at his baby grand and sang cheek to cheek into the microphone, it was like a Mount Rushmore of identity crisis.

I can't, however, figure out why Welsh act Jem was picked as the second opener. Her sensibilities lean toward the alternative, are more Dido than No Doubt and seemed mismatched with the other two acts. Not surprising, then, that her poppy blend of electronica and hip hop -- leaning toward middle-of-the-road numbers like the reggae-tinged "Save Me" and a cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" -- was met mostly with apathy. At one point she asked those in the side bleachers if they were awake.

Jessica Berthold

PENNSYLVANIA SINFONIA ORCHESTRA WITH

MICHAEL GURT

Every now and then one comes across an orchestra, a conductor and a soloist that have established special chemistry of the type that has developed over the last decade between New Orleans-based pianist Michael Gurt, the Pennsylvania Sinfonia and its conductor, Allan Birney. It was gloriously reflected in their rendition of the Grieg piano concerto last Saturday, Gurt's 10th appearance in the Valley in that many years.

Gurt is a pianist of tremendous musicality, ability to contrast the dramatic and the lyrical (which the Grieg concerto facilitates in abundance), flawless technique and easy virtuosity. These individual characteristics were further enhanced by the soloist's ability to intimately converse with the members of Sinfonia, to play with them, not merely in technical coordination but, indeed, in spiritual unison.

In the first half, the PSO offered Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony." While the first movement was a little rushed for my taste, it was fresh and alive, benefiting from the relative smallness of the ensemble. The second movement -- Scene by the Brook -- was truly gorgeous, reflecting the considerable improvement of the strings over the last few years. While the horns had small intonation problems, the performance in its totality was more than satisfying.

Gurt conquered the audience. No wonder that the conclusion of the Grieg concerto brought the listeners to their feet and that Gurt responded with two encores, a Schumann etude and Gottschalk's "Le Benjo," Gurt's signature adieu.